


Simple decisions

by Ursar



Category: Curse of Strahd - Fandom, Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Ravenloft - Fandom
Genre: Found Family, No Plot/Plotless, only fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:42:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28755327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ursar/pseuds/Ursar
Summary: Strahd finds three young wolves and he joins them for a short adventure. He thinks he is adopting them, but the truth is - it is him who is being adopted.There is a list of characters at the end ;)
Relationships: Strahd von Zarovich & wolves
Kudos: 5





	Simple decisions

Reports were made of bandits in the woods. I decided to attend to the matters myself, lest Barovia forgets I watch over it yet. It was simple enough to dispatch them in my wolf form, luring one by one into the night. When justice was sated, I chose to survey the land in this form. I would often fly over the mountains in my bat form, but certain things were better seen from another perspective.

I had barely spent an hour running through the forest when I heard it.

A howl.

A land didn’t consist only of peoples and roads and taxes. Barovia was its mountains and creeks and wolves, too. Do they not deserve my attention as much as the more civilized sheep-flock?

Almost absent-mindedly, but entirely willingly and eagerly, I threw my head back to issue a howl of greetings and introductions in response, and followed the sweet music of their reply.

-

She slipped out of the shadows first, tail wagging, followed by her companions. All three were, judging by their appearance, siblings, and barely more than pups - yearlings at most, given how wild the greetings I received from the first two was. They looked too young to be forming a new pack already, but they were slender rather than emaciated, so the winter has not tickled at their growling stomachs yet.

But that time was not far. The night sky was as always covered by the softest and most translucent veil of clouds. There wasn’t a star to be seen, not even the moon - yet, the clouds shone with a pinkish light that illuminated the land and foretold the first snowfall of the year. First, but far from the last. Once the land was covered by it like a deceptively soft, lethal blanket, it would remain so until the third moon of the new year - fourth or fifth in the mountains. 

The blood of ancestors that coursed in the veins of their prey remembered in some primal manner. Deer came one by one to join the herds that marched down into the valleys in an ancient tradition.

These wolves were too young and lacked that wisdom, or guidance and experience of their parents.

I sighed as they licked at my chops and I snapped at them without any animosity behind the gesture. Still, they instantly crawled around me and whined. And by the gods, if I had no dignity left, I would have rolled my eyes. I turned away and yawned instead, but one of the brothers who grovelled under me chose that moment to jump up. My jaws snapped together loudly and rather painfully.

It was time to establish some boundaries. 

-

That was what I intended to do. But the wolves proved way too persistent; from experience I knew to only fight battles that could be won and this was not one of them. I ended up trotting through the forest almost tripping over the three every few steps. At least they were continuously distracted by the most fascinating things on the way - a pine cone, a jay-bird, a frozen dung beetle, and a stick. I grew accustomed to their mannerisms and ignored them for the most part, intent on finding something to eat, when the third one - the male that was less unruly and held back most of the time - gave a warning bark.

It was entirely too late.

His siblings had been playing chase and just dove into a thick patch of shrubbery and trees. In a blink, even before the old, dry leaves they kicked up touched the ground, they shot out - followed by a dark shadow. 

The black knight of the woods.

A wild boar hunt is a serious matter. Its hide is thick, as is its skull - it takes a long while before the boar realizes that after suffering several grievous injuries it should be dead and not spilling the hounds’ guts on the blood-slippery ground. It has a poor temper and no patience with fools, as the yearlings were about to find out.

-

I knew better than to name the yearlings, of course. They were neither dogs nor horses; like cattle for slaughter, one should not grow attached to wildlife, especially their young. Animals at the mercy of nature alone too die too fast for it to be worthwhile.

I had taken to calling the she-wolf Umbră, for she was pliant like a ghost in shadow. If she decided to get to some place, no matter how inaccessible, she would succeed. The shy, reserved, but watchful brother was named Gaiță, Jay; the air-headed one, I titled Trăpaş, Trotter, for he never stood still, clumsy as he was, and it got him into trouble. He was, I came to know, also fiercely loyal and fearless when it came to the protection of his family.

-

The boar charged the siblings, but as they outran him, his attention turned to Gaiță, who eyed the boar, but didn’t seem hesitant about confronting it and, if need be, laying down his life for Umbră and Trăpaş.

Excellent.

If the wolf managed to focus our foe’s ire on himself, it would provide an opportunity for me to grab it from behind. It was my goal to annoy or weaken it enough into giving up - killing one such as this with the help of these youths was unthinkable, and to foolishly try for such a result in some misguided effort at a heroic deed would only result in one of our deaths. I just hoped the yearlings somehow knew that, too.

The chances were low and their outlook grim. Nonetheless, we had to try.

-

Gaiță swiveled around the boar. I was already on its tail and brought my jaws down on his rump as hard as I could. It was not the ideal place to attack for several reasons. I immediately released my hold on it.

The other two have returned and feigned an attack from the front as one, but then each ran in a different direction, which seemed to confuse, and rather unfortunately, further enrage the boar. Gaiță dove for its side, but his jaws snapped empty.

It now turned its back to me, following Umbră’s movement with its beady, little eyes. Taking that opportunity to strike, I nipped at its hind leg. Its fur was bristly, and I had a mouthful of it when I was forced to let go because the boar was turning on me again.

Trăpaş was already there, grabbing it by the hump of its shoulders. 

The boar spun around.

Trăpaş yelped.

-

In battle, one does not think about the wounded or the fallen. One carries on fighting and hoping he won’t be the next one to join them. 

Blood-madness fell upon me and darkened my vision. I did not remember much of the ensuing struggle, but it couldn’t have lasted for too long. The three of us were only getting riled up for a proper battle, while the boar was growing tired from having to fence off opponents that outnumbered him.

Not that such a trifle fact would force it to retreat. 

A decisive action needed to take place.

The boar was twice the size of any of us, perhaps even three times the size of the yearlings. I kept trying to find a weakness or a soft spot on its torso knowing full well there weren’t any. I eyed its tusks and hoofs, the sheer mass of its form, waiting for a chance to bite, and only hesitated for a moment before it turned on one of the yearlings and I dove down to bore my teeth into its belly.

I bit into the flesh, I felt the trickling blood, life essence that was so unwillingly escaping from under its skin, but not savoring its taste, I opened my jaws slightly to gnaw on it again in the next moment, forcing my fangs to sink deeper.

The boar thrashed, and while I avoided its tusks, the likelihood that it could open my insides to the cold air grew exponentially with each heartbeat that I continued to hold onto it.

-

A certain amount of stubborness was, for some reason, on occasions, attributed to me. Even hanging by my fangs on the boar, I did not allow the ridiculousness of the endeavor to cast doubt into my determination, and I had an overdue epiphany on what people meant by calling me dogged.

I would think about that later. 

By writhing and tossing its head up and down and around, the boar made its wounds far worse. Umbră’s kept dancing delicately right outside its reach, luring it away from her brothers, further provoking it into exhausted bouts of anger and blood loss. Its efforts were half-hearted and feeble now. It was time to finish things.

I waited for the yearling to retreat before I opened my mouth and the boar stumbled forward. She circled around and nipped at the boar’s backside. I did the same to its side. We jumped back when it turned around, but didn’t back down, indeed, by the force of our stare and posture alone, we started to push it out. Slowly, hesitantly, the boar turned around and shambled into the woods. 

I and Umbră pursued the boar to chase it off. When I looked over my shoulder, Gaiță stood by his brother and licked at his forehead.

-

Have you ever dreamt around running through the woods at night?

-

When we returned, I was breathless, but exhilarated. Trăpaş was sat upright and leaning on his brother, who for once didn’t seem to mind physical closeness. Umbră on the other hand hung back under the holly shrub, stepping from foot to foot on the spot and whining. I frowned - indeed, one can do that as a wolf, if one knows what one is doing - and looked at her. She was displaying signs of fear, but after glancing around, I saw no signs of danger. I decided to ignore her, and sank into the leaves to catch my breath.

Trăpaş soon tries to stand up, but his leg buckled and gave out under him. His brother stood by him and nudged the other wolf gently to encourage him to try again. Trăpaş didn’t seem to question Gaiță’s judgement and immediately obeyed with limited, but some small measure of success. 

After several attempts stretched across a period of time he was able to take a few limping steps. Regardless, I thought the yearling would be dead by the third nightfall.

-

I did not know why the siblings didn’t abandon their brother. His inability to keep up with even a slow-paced walk slowed them down - slowed us down, to be precise, for my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to accompany the siblings. 

Neither did I know where and why Umbră led the pack. Nevertheless, I had no choice but to trust in her determination to get us there. I got the vague impression she was trying to make up for what would be perceived as a “failure” after her brother was injured, and that she would walk over corpses if it was necessary.

We have been travelling for a time, but didn’t cover much ground. Gaiță waited patiently while Trăpaş lurched forward a few paces, staggered, and sat down to lick his foot. 

Umbră raised her head and looked ahead. In her eyes, I saw a flicker of intelligence I have so far considered reserved for people and monsters, and a simple resolve to survive - and ensure her pack’s survival. 

-

Yes, it was all very romantic, if you were inclined to give in to such tendencies. Perhaps if you haven’t just spent all day and night stumbling over frozen ground at an agonizingly slow pace, you’d have a different outlook - but other than a few short breaks that consisted mostly of a feverish chase after an unfortunate vole and one memorable encounter with a grass snake, Umbră drove us on until we reached the mountain.

And she started up.

Silly yearling. She would lead her family to their deaths! At that point, I left the brothers behind. Umbră seemed more at ease, but her carefree, pup-like attitude from our initial encounter has not resurfaced in her expression or posture, it was drowned. Her eyes were fixed on a point in a time and place that only she could perceive, and she picked up her pace. If I ever saw a fanatic, she behaved like one.

I looked at her side-ways. I tried to attract her attention. I huffed and the air from my lungs whirled upwards like mist.

Umbră still didn’t react. 

I truly regretted having to resolve to such ungentlemanly behavior, but desperate times called for desperate measures. 

With a slam, I shoved her.

Umbră landed in an unfortunate manner, face-first, in the somewhat deeper snow off her path. The cover was not yet deep enough to prevent her from getting a mouthful of leaves, twigs and soil. If I could laugh at her expression when she emerged, I would have - I did, in a way intrinsic to the wolves, but only for a moment. As I inhaled, I caught a scent.

-

There were two of the other wolves, at least, judging by the fact that they did not even attempt to conceal their position and watched us unabashedly.

I breathed deeply and the rumbling growl that came out instead of an exhale almost perturbed me. My hackles were raised and I held my head and tail high in what I hoped would be a display of confidence I, in that moment, desperately lacked. The brothers cowered and whined behind me as the intruders advanced and gained speed as they dashed down the mountainside.

-

I was still rather bewildered a little while after the elevated mood from the greetings rituals have subsided - I am unashamed to admit that in my shock, even I tentatively wagged a tail before I remembered myself - and I was, thoroughly sniffed in places one would not dare name in a polite society, accepted. 

The two were no strangers - they were sturdier, shaggier and larger than the siblings, but undeniably related to them. I saw the truth in more than just physical appearance. I saw it in the way they worriedly sniffed at Trăpaş’ leg while he tried and failed to pretend to bear his wound like a hero, and in the way they gently and lovingly licked Gaiță’s nose.

They were a family.

Something in my chest, something that felt as susceptible to pain as a snake that was skinned alive and left to die alone on the forest floor, recoiled from the word, and I stopped dead in my tracks. The time came for me to turn back. I have neglected my duties for this frivolity for long enough.

-

I didn’t make it further than a few dozen feet before Gaiță caught up to me. I only risked a fleeting glance at him before lowering my eyes to watch out for thin, slippery sheets of ice on the rocks again. Teeth bared, I warned him to stay away; as if he didn’t always keep a respectable distance, unlike his brother and sister.

He whimpered. I growled. He nudged me, I snapped at him, he licked my chops and then, suddenly, drew his jaws down on my nose and just like that, I was chasing the yearling. 

I noticed Trăpaş watching. He had been waiting for us, but I didn’t pay his victorious grin any mind. I had to catch his brother by the tail and drag him back to his parents for some discipline.

…

Damn it.

Damn it. I can return later, after Trăpaş’ leg finishes healing up and the pack isn’t in need of an additional wolf anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> DRAMATIC PERSONAE
> 
> Umbră (tieň) - female yearling  
> Trăpaş (klusák) - male yearling   
> Gaiță (sojka) - male yearling
> 
> Ceaţă (Hmla) - female leader (mother)  
> Cuarţ (kremeň) - male leader (father)  
> Salcie (vŕba) - old female leader (granny)


End file.
